U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,605 B2 granted to James Daugherty et al. Apr. 15, 2003 discloses an electrical socket connector having a conventional connector lock comprising a lock arm that is disposed inside a shroud attached to a connector body. The lock arm is integrally attached to the shroud by integral connector portions (not shown) that permit the lock arm to pivot with respect to the shroud. The lock arm has a lock nib at one end and a depressible pump handle at the other end that extends outwardly of the shroud. The lock nib snaps over and engages a lock shoulder of a mating connector body (not shown) when the mating connector body is plugged into the shroud. In order to unplug the mating connector body, the pump handle is depressed pivoting the lock nib outwardly out of engagement with the lock shoulder and releasing the mating connector body so that the mating connector body can be pulled out of the shroud.
This conventional connector lock has been used satisfactorily for many years. However, the arrangement has a high profile due to the shroud having an enlargement to house a portion of the lock arm inside the shroud. This high profile in turn increases the space requirements for using the conventional lock arm arrangement.